


Inevitable

by Niki



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Getting Back Together, Ignores All the Other Games, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Slitghtly Experimental, Two Stories Within One, Vows, breaking up, happy endings, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-05 00:00:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15158042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niki/pseuds/Niki
Summary: Happy endings are all about where you end the story.





	1. Rejection

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CariadWinter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CariadWinter/gifts).



> This isn't the story I meant to write you. (I was going to do Mass Effect. Maybe one day I'll finish that one too.) But I hope you enjoy it anyway!
> 
> There are two ways this story can go, so reading chapter by chapter is easier as there is some chapter jumping involved. But it can also be read as is, with just an alternate version of the final chapter. I've never done anything even remotely like this, so I hope it's not a huge mess. It's not a true "choose your own adventure" because there is only one choice to make.
> 
> I also hope you don't mind me claiming this for my Trope Bingo square "Happy Ending" as the new round started before the stories went live!

I knew it the moment he told me who he really was. Not just a beautiful shem, not just a fellow Grey Warden, but a son of a king. A bastard son, but when Arl Eamon greeted him like a long lost child, when he first mentioned the plan to put Maric's blood heir to the throne... I knew.

Shemlen royalty don't mix their blood with the Dalish. 

From our first kiss I knew it would end, and too soon. From the first night I laid with him I knew he would break my heart. 

When we reached Denerim I knew we were out of time. In his uncle's house he wouldn't look at me, wouldn't talk to me in that intimate voice he'd always used when it was just us, wouldn't come near me.

When we went out, to the city, I pulled him behind a corner and kissed him with everything I had in my heart. And after his usual bashfulness about witnesses, he kissed me back. If he tasted my desperation he didn't show it.

And so we went to solidify his support base, me working my powers of persuasion like never before, all the time knowing I was working towards my own pain.

I woke up half-naked in his arms, in the prison, and he didn't blink, didn't show I'd been in his arms before, mind in the future and duties already. I smiled, and offered my body as a tool to get out of there. Anything, everything, for our mission, for Ferelden, for him. 

The Landsmeet was the end. Afterwards, he walked like a king. With all those people behind him, with Loghain dead... he was the new ruler, and rulers had duties.

I did not expect him to be so business-like about it. Listing good reasons for the inevitable conclusion, not caring that my heart was bleeding on the floor.

So I told him I understood. Of course I did. He was to be a king, and I... I was an elven warrior, not fit to be his queen. Oh, he said it was me being another Grey Warden that was the reason, but I couldn't help but think that had I been a human noble my blue blood would outrun the taint. 

I couldn't sleep there that night. I couldn't even draw a full chest of air. I left Alistair to plan with Eamon and left for the camp site we had established days earlier. I wasn't alone in being uncomfortable in our luxurious surroundings it seemed, because I did not leave alone.

Cif walked next to me, rubbing against my flank like a lapdog instead of the fierce warrior who could kill me with just a few bites. I rested my hand on his back, fingers tangled in his fur, and my other hand held my sword so tight I cut the circulation in my fingers.

I couldn't share the fire with the others, so I walked a little way off, towards the stream that ran next to our site, and sat down to look at the stars, hugging Cif close and hiding my face in his fur.

I don't know how long I sat there before I heard Leliana clear her throat.

“I made some soup,” she said quietly.

“Will you tell me a story?” I asked, eyes still on the stars.

“Of course, my friend.”

“Tell me about Alindra and her soldier again?”

While she recounted the tale I let the tears finally fall, stars blurring in my eyes, maybe hoping to one day close the gap between me and my love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Happy Path continues in Chapter 2. 
> 
> To take the Bittersweet Path, jump to Chapter 4.
> 
> Both have happy endings, of sort.


	2. Vows

_I made my way to the little lake by our camp site, knowing Alistair would find me. All through the day I could swear I had seen the questions and worries circling in his mind._

_”Darling... what he said, Cammen... about not kissing someone he had not been promised to yet. Have I... what have I taken away from you?”_

_”Why? You think I would – could – ever go back, to be bound by their rules?”_

_”Don't say that, I'm sorry, I didn't know... I never even promised you anything.”_

_”Sit down, ma sa'lath. You do know I love you, don't you.”_

_”Well, yes, though I can't for the life of me figure out why...”_

_”Not now. And I know you love me.”_

_”I hope so, because I do. I do, I do, I do.”_

_”And when you first spent the night with me?”_

_”I just wanted – needed – to be close to you, because no one else has ever meant to me what you mean to me. And even if we won't have long together I would still cherish that memory, you.”_

_”Can't you see that I feel the same?”_

_”But they said...”_

_”I'm not Dalish, now, I am a Grey Warden. Besides, didn't you say you were taught that your Maker would strike you down for doing what we did?”_

_”Well... yes.”_

_”Then answer me this. Would you feel any more committed to me now if we had shared promises in the moonlight with a Keeper to witness our vows?”_

_”Uhh... no?”_

_”And would I feel any more committed to you if we had recited promises in the Chantry with a mother or a priestess or whatever you have, to witness those vows?”_

_”I can't imagine that would mean so much to you. Yes, I get your point. We make our own promises and vows. We assign our own meanings.” He looked up at the stars, then smiled, pulling me closer. ”Promises in the moonlight, you say?”_

_I smiled back, filled with love and passion. ”I give you my body, my mind, my heart, I give you my years, my labour, my sword, I give you my innocence and my future, for as long as we are allowed to share it.” My words aren't from any ritual but come directly from my heart, and I have never felt anything more securely than them._

_”I give you my body, my mind, my heart,” Alistair repeated. ”As much of my years as we are allowed to, my endeavours, my shield. I give you my innocence, and all the love I'll ever know. I give you my faith.”_

_We sealed our promises with kisses, sealed together even tighter than our first shared night, and made innocent love under the moon, not realising what we had done._

*

I waited for the others to move back before turning to Alistar. King Alistair. The pain was not so insistent, now, I could look at him and still breathe. I still loved him, I figured I always would. I doubted I'd ever let anyone else touch my body, afraid I'd forget the way his hands had felt on my skin. 

It still hurt, and I feared it always would, but I could look at him, talk to him, be his friend. As long as I didn't need to watch him marry the woman who could give him heirs. I led the Grey Wardens – I would find duties that took me away from that. 

I smiled, even though I couldn't keep the sadness from tinting it.

”So,” he said.

”So,” I repeated.

”The Hero of Ferelden,” he said. ”It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?”

”King of Ferelden,” I replied. ”Sounds grand.”

”Who'd have though, huh.”

”Me,” I whispered. ”I knew your fate was to be fulfilled... away from me.”

”Don't,” he begged, voice breaking. ”I can't... I have to... So much for promises in the moonlight,” he finished, almost bitterly.

”What did you say?” asked a new voice. My Keeper, Marethari, had reached us and was now staring at Alistair in shock.

Her voice brought Eamon over, to enquire after the problem.

”Did you say... Da'len, did you exchange promises in the moonlight with him?”

I was puzzled, and met Alistair's gaze to show him as much.

”Yes,” I said, simply, never able to lie to my Keeper, and not seeing a need to, now.

”Well... that changes the situation, doesn't it?” Eamon asked, obviously understanding what the Keeper was referring to.

”I don't get it,” Alistair said what we both were thinking.

”Dalish vows are considered a formal marriage ceremony in Ferelden,” Eamon explained.

”But... we didn't have a Keeper to witness,” I said, not daring to hope.

”Did you speak from the heart, Lethallan? Then that is all the witness you need.”

Alistair's expression turned from baffled to cautiously joyful. ”You mean... I don't have to let her go?” 

As if on their own volition my hands sought his, and he gripped mine so hard it would have hurt if I hadn't been in shock.

”Well, maybe a morganatic marriage...” started Eamon, but I wasn't listening anymore. 

The desperate joy in Alistair's eyes erased the last vestiges of pain from my soul – he had suffered, too. But we didn't need to hurt anymore.

There, in front of his court, his uncle, and all our friends, the king of Ferelden gathered me close, and kissed me where everyone could see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I don't really believe Ferelden places any legal value on (made up) Dalish rituals. But let's call this an AU. 
> 
> The Happy Path can end here, if you want to leave them with their lives in front of them. If you want to follow them to the end, there is an epilogue in Chapter 3. In either case, I hope you have enjoyed this version.


	3. The End for the Queen

When I hear the scream I hurry back to bed and gather my trashing husband close, holding him against my body, trying to wake him with soothing words. 

He wakes up with a gasp, the horror of the nightmare in his eyes. It's the fifth night in a row. We both know what it means, though we have been trying to deny it.

”It's not fair,” he says. ”I wanted more time with you.”

When Grey Wardens get older, the nightmares get worse, until they either go mad or go to the Deep Roads, to fight the darkspawn, one last time. 

”We had two decades, love. That's two decades more than we thought to have.” 

”Do you think Marry is ready?” 

”Your son will be a better king than you ever were, Ser I-Don't-Like-Giving-Orders.”

”Our son has been brought up to be the king unlike me.”

”So it's all good.”

”And you'll be here to help him,” he says, reassuring himself, and I look at him with patient affection.

”You know I won't be,” I tell him, gently.

”What, of course you... no. No! Lyna, no, you can't. You have time.”

”Half a year?”

”We don't know that, it's not a set time.”

”Alistair. Darling. When have I ever let you walk into battle alone?”

He looks stubborn and I know I'm in for a fight. But I have never let him leave me behind for anything, and I will not let him go to his death alone. Our children will manage, they have been preparing for this their whole lives. 

Sometimes it feels that I have, also. 

“Why would I want to live even one day when you are gone?” I ask, softly, letting my tears fall.

“Lyna...”

“I did it once. I was left behind by you, and I survived. I will not do it again, not at my age. The nightmares will come and claim me, too, and... would you send me alone into battle?”

I can see I'm getting through to him, that he can see my stubbornness equals his, as it ever does.

“I often thought we'd die together, in the old days. Felt impossible that we would succeed,” he says, almost wistfully.

“But we did.”

“And I never thought I could have both you and the crown.”

“But you did.”

“And I never thought I'd willingly let you walk straight to your death.”

“But you will.”

“Together to the end, my love?”

“Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the "implied" bit of the character death. Who knows what happens on that final adventure of theirs, whether this really is the end. So I claim this as a happy ending.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed your story! Now you can go back to Chapter 1 and read the Bittersweet Path. Or if you already did that, my final thanks for you for reading!


	4. The End for the General

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the next part on the Bittersweet Path.

He left alone, before dawn, when even the servants in the palace were still asleep. He wore the armour he had carried all those years ago when he had first faced the Darkspawn hordes, leaving his brother's armour and his father's weapons to his son. He had with him Duncan's shield, and a sword forged from metal that fell from the sky, given to him by a woman he had once loved.

The woman he still loved. The Hero of Ferelden, who had helped him to the throne and then... left. No, was left behind. He had known from the beginning that a king could not marry a Dalish elf, not a fellow Grey Warden at least.

And he had, despite everything, been a good king. He had given his all to his land, to his people. He had married a noble – human – woman who bore him a son to inherit the crown, who bore him daughters he taught to fight himself.

He had grown to love her, after a fashion. As a companion, as a mother of his children, as his queen.

But it never stopped hurting to see the Warden General, the one and only love of his life. A blessing or a curse, then, that her duties kept her away from Denerim most of the time. They were friends, now. Just friends. 

He had left her a letter, along with his family. It was... easier, somehow, to write them. His children knew the day would come, as did his queen, and they had had all these years together. It hurt, of course it did, to leave his children. But... he had had all those years with them. 

It was harder to write to her. He didn't know how much he should say, how much to admit. Whether to tell her he still felt he had been wrong, all those years ago. As much as he loved his children, and treasured every day with them, he still regretted, bitterly, that he hadn't followed his heart, but had blindly followed tradition to let her go.

To let her go.

To not share all those years with her.

She would have been a magnificent queen, as she was a magnificent Warden. The Grey Wardens had reclaimed their status and reputation and it was all thanks to her, her combination of diplomacy and skill in battle.

He was proud of her achievements, as a former fellow in arms, as her king, as her... love.

She never married. In his better days he wished she found companionship in some other form, that she wasn't alone. In his worse days he burnt with jealousy at the thought, all the while cursing his own hypocrisy.

He made good time despite his years, avoiding popular roads, making towards a spot where they had once camped, all those years ago. A whim? Sentimentality? It was a good spot, with a stream providing water, woods offering shelter, and a view filled with memories. This was the spot where they had made love for the first time, all those years ago.

He started a fire, ate some of the food he had taken with him, and dreaded going to sleep. The nightmares had been getting gradually worse over the last year, with increasing frequency, until he could hardly close his eyes without hearing the voice or seeing the gory images, flames robbing all the rest from his sleep.

He had known he had to go, but had been able to hide it from most because he slept alone, and his children had already taken over most of his duties in expectation of this very eventuality. They had agreed on no goodbyes, years ago, and if they had expected more of a warning... well, he felt it was better this way.

The only goodbye he regretted missing was with Lyna. It had been a few years since he had last seen her. Most likely it was better that way. She had her own life, and soon, all to soon, she would be making the same journey herself.

He didn't want to think about that, didn't want to think about a world without her – even though he wouldn't be around to experience it. Even when they were apart he always knew she was somewhere, was still breathing, was still making the world a better place with her determination and a heart bigger than her loyal mabari hound. 

Suddenly there was a rustling sound somewhere to his left, and he reached for his sword. There was a shadowy figure approaching his fire.

For a moment he thought she was a vision conjured up by his thoughts but no. There she was, in her Warden armour, silently sitting down and meeting his eyes over the fire. She looked like she hadn't aged a day in those few years, and precious little even before that, but her eyes... they carried all those years in their solemn look.

“How...?”

The corner of her mouth lifted up in smile, and the years were gone from her gaze.

“I have always kept an eye on you, Your Majesty.”

“You have spies in my house,” he accused, but couldn't help how happy it sounded.

“I have spies everywhere,” she said.

Alistair couldn't keep the smile at bay any longer, and knew he was grinning in a very unroyal fashion. He wanted to get up, to hold her close but he couldn't, because he knew he wouldn't be able to let go if he did.

“Why are you here?” he asked, to restrain himself. Maybe she had a mission he could help her with, maybe he didn't need to go face armies of darkspawn on his own for no end...

“I've been preparing for this day from the moment I realised your nightmares had gotten worse,” she said, casually, opening her own bag and pulling out some food.

She bit down on an apple, and tossed him something he caught on reflex, then noticed it was a block of cheese. Block of his favourite cheese. 

“No,” he said, staring at the cheese, and thinking about everything her presence implied.

“It's not going to bite you,” she teased, still eating her apple.

“I will not let you do this.”

But he ate the cheese, of course he did. It was _cheese_.

“You granted the Wardens freedom from the laws of the land, so... you're not my king, Your Majesty.”

“You cannot do this,” he said, desperately.

Her smile disappeared, and he could feel the intensity of her gaze almost like a physical force.

“I was refused a life with you. I will be damned if I'm denied the chance to face my death with you.”

She moved closer to him, and as one they reached for each other, holding on tighter even than they did that night, decades back.

“Together at the end, at least,” she whispered, and he knew she had not stopped loving him, either, and the guilty joy almost choked him.

“Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed your story! Now go read the other version. Or, possibly, go read it again.


End file.
